In the past, as a tape printing system, a tape printing system provided with a tape printer which prints image data on a printing tape and a computer which generates image data and transmits the image data to the tape printer has been known (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-14524). The computer obtains, from the tape printer, the type of a printing tape placed in the tape printer, and, after performing image processing according to the type on the image data, transmits the processed image data to the tape printer.
However, in the above-described configuration, when image processing is performed on the image data, it is necessary to transmit information such as the type of a printing tape and margin setting between the computer and the tape printer by data communication. For example, in image processing corresponding to a transfer tape, it is necessary to flip the image data vertically and add a margin on both sides of the image data. However, the margin length varies depending on the characteristics (a difference among models, such as a tape feed rate) of the tape printer. Since the computer generates printing image data while taking these variations into consideration, the operation becomes undesirably complicated. Moreover, different image processing may be needed depending on the characteristics of each tape printer, making it impossible to perform image processing according to the characteristics of each tape printer.